Chapter 4

The animals made it outside of school on Perry's hover car. Perry parked it when they landed, and all went inside.

They were lucky enough that nobody recognized them; they were all to busy getting ready for the day to notice pets in the building. The pets stopped when they heard a familiar voice.

"Perry!" Phineas shouted. The kids ran to their pets as they shouted their names excitedly.

"Pinky!" Isabella hugged her pet.

"Biff!" Bufurd cheered. The bully hugged his fish's bowl and kissed it.

Baljeet and Ferb followed as the three hugged their pets. As soon as Phineas was done hugging Perry, it was Ferb's turn.

The kids released them when done.

"So, what are you all doing here?" Phineas wanted to know, patting his platypus. Perry chattered.

"They all probably missed us!" Isabella suggested. "So they all decided to come and visit us!"

"Awe, did you miss me?" Buford asked his pet. The fish only made a glub sound.

"I missed you too buddy." The bully hugged him.

"Awwww!" Baljeet oohed at the scene.

"Well, we're glad you all came," Phineas said. He then stood up. "But, we have to all go now. We're sorry." The other kids stood up, and started to go.

"Don't let them go Perry!" Pinky whined. "We just got here!" Perry started to follow them until Phineas stopped him.

"No Perry!" He said. "Get out of here before our principal finds out you're all here." He began to leave again when he sense Perry following him again. He sighed, bent down, and petted the platypus's chin.

"Perry, we're sorry but…" He began to sing as he and the other kids petted their own pets. Buford hugged his.

"Now we all love you guys very much," Phineas sang. "But with this 24/7 school year, it's like all our times together has all of a sudden turned into mush. It's sad but true. Now don't think you're the only ones sad, but look at us; we're blue! No time to play! All of our times together have turned into a really long delay.

"We love to, but we can't"

"Not even when you pant." Isabella sang to Pinky who looked sad.

"No time to play!" All of the kids sang.

"We don't even have time to build statues of you to remember you by out of clay." Baljeet added.

"No time to play!" The kids sang again.

"I'm going to miss you buddy." Buford told his fish. "And I can't even make you a friend out of silly putty."

"No time to play." The kids continued as they all stood up. "No time to play. No time to playyyyyy."

"We're very sorry Perry." Phineas said to Perry. "We just don't have time to play, not for a very long time." He then went after his friends.

"So that's it huh?" Pinky concluded sadly. "Our owners our gone…, just like that." The animals all looked down at the ground sadly with tears in their eyes. Biff looked up.

"Guys!" He shouted. "Let's get out of here! A funny looking guy in a lab coat is coming our way!" The animals looked at what Biff was talking about; Dr. D was coming their way!

"Quick!" Perry told them. "Before he notices us!" The animals all ran until they were out of the building.

When they were all outside, they got on Perry's hover craft, and flew away.

"What can we do?" Biff whined as they flew home. "This is torture! I want to see Buford every day in the summer and all year long like last year and the year before. I want things back the way they were before. What gives?"

"This is evil all right." Pinky agreed. "If only this was all caused by an evil machine, then there would be an off switch to this whole mess."

"Yeah." Biff agreed. "If only, but there's not."

Perry listened, and remembered something! There was an off switch to Doof's invention! They could still be heroes yet, and put a stop to this gigantic problem!

"Hold on guys!" Perry told them as he turned the car around with the steering wheel. They were now headed to the D.E.I. building.

At school, Phineas was thinking about what he said to Perry a few moments ago. He absolutely hated the fact that he was forced to make his platypus's feelings get hurt. He hated not spending summer outside mostly everyday. He was going to do something, and there was no stopping a kid who wants to have fun, especially this boy!

Phineas turned to his friends and looked serious. His friends stopped, and looked at him puzzled.

"Phineas?" Isabella asked. "Why did you stop? We need to be on time, or we'll get detention."

"Guys!" Phineas told them. "This is summer! Unless this is a summer school, or some sort of camp, which it's not; we shouldn't be here! We should all be home, making cool structures, going on cool trips with our families, eating ice cream, going to beaches and water parks, and having fun! So, why are we all here instead?"

"To get an education." Baljeet answered.

"But, for the whole summer?" Phineas wanted to know. "Come on guys, where is the fun?"

"Phineas." Isabella told him. "I know you don't like to be here; nobody does! But, this was the mayor's idea, not ours. It's the mayor's decision, and this is what he picked. This is what he thinks is the best for all of us."

"But it's not the best for us!" Phineas complained. "I mean, to not see our families and our loved ones ever again? That's not right! That's evil, just pure evil! This is America for Pete's sake, a free country! We should get a say in this. We're 10 year olds, not babies anymore."

"But." Baljeet butted in. "The Mayor said…"

"Obviously that guy's not thinking straight. We should be all having a blast in summers, not trapped in here like bumps on log. I say we talk to the mayor, and straighten this mess out! Now, who's with me?"

All of the friends hesitated, not knowing whom to trust.

"Come on guys." Phineas encouraged them. "You all saw how our pets felt about us being away; imagine how our parents feel about this."

Suddenly, the kids shouted one by one.

"In!" Baljeet said.

"In!" Isabella shouted.

"In." Ferb told his stepbrother.

"Nobody makes my fish sad, and gets away with it." Buford said. "So I'm way in!"

"Excellent, let's go!" So the kids all ran to ask some kids directions. The kids told them, and after breakfast, all of them snuck off of school property, and to Town Hall where the mayor was.

"You want what now?" The mayor asked when he and the kids were sitting on sofas in the mayor's living room.

"Please sir." Phineas said. "We want time off from school. You know the weekends, certain holidays, snow days possibly, conferences, and half of June, and all of July and August until after Labor Day you know, like we always had it."

The mayor stood up, and shook his head.

"No can do!" He told them. "You kids need a good education so you can survive in the real world."

"But we will!" Phineas complained. "We need breaks every now and then, so our brain doesn't implode with information. Besides, all of our teachers are teaching us the same stuff over and over; it's annoying!"

"That's good they re-teach you, so you remember it more when you need it most."

"But you don't understand its stuff we learned in way back in Preschool and Kindergarten! ABC's, 123's, two plus two equaling four, we know all of that, and we will remember it always! Stuff like that is permantly stuck in our brains forever."

"Doesn't matter! You may forget in life, then what? You're screwed! The world is a big place; no one's going to teach you. That's why school got invented, to teach you so you all don't act dumb in the real world. You need education kid."

"Look mister, I know school's important, but you got us working to death! We need time- off once and a while. You think you're improving lives, but you're not! You're making kids and their families real sad because they can no longer see each other, most for years. We need breaks mayor, we really do. Think of the chil…" The mayor turned around, he was mad!

"Look kid!" He pointed madly at Phineas. "You don't tell me how to run things okay. If you want to grow up, and get fired from jobs just after they hire you, then fine! Go ahead! But don't come whining to me afterwards asking what to do because you dropped out when you had the chance! If you want to drop out then fine! But leave me out of it; I'm running several schools, and I don't what to be bothered!" Phineas and friends looked shocked.

"That's not what I said at all!" Phineas spoke. "I love school, love to learn, and know it's important for me, so I'll never drop out. I'm just saying we need time-offs is all."

"Kid, no! Now get back to class, all of you!" Phineas sighed, and went off the sofa.

"Then I guess you leave me with no choice. I have to sing for the kids' sakes."

"What?" But it was too late. The boy opened his mouth, and began to sing.

"Mayor." He sang. "We worked all day, doing things you way. Why can't someone else get the say? We need a break, we need a break! Can't you hear us; we need a break for goodness sakes!"

"Now I know you want us to have a good education, but that's no reason to cancel our vacation! Kids crying, families being broken apart, come on, listen to your heart!

"Give us a break, give us a break! You're working us to death here, we may die, and that's not a lie. Come on man, hear our constant plea, it what we kids want, to be free! Give us a break!

"Now I know we need to have a good education, we all do. But please, give us back our vacation! We're begging you!

I'm not asking to quit on education, I know to me, that's just wrong! Still not convinced? Just keep on listening to my song!

"Everyone needs a break once in a while; it's the best thing that came in style!"

"So. We need a break." Phineas's friends joined in. "We need a break, we need a break!" Then Phineas finished off with a slide like he was in a concert. "WE NEED A BREAAAAKKKKK!"

"Yeah, we need a break!" The kids all finished. They all smiled at the mayor who looked disappointed. He pointed to the door.

"For skipping classes, coming in here and singing that horrific song, you all get detention for the rest of your lives!" The kids all gasped.

"But sir," Phineas started. "We…"

"But nothing! Now get back to class, PRONTO!"

"But..." Isabella nudged him.

"Phineas." She told him. "We tried our best. Let's get back to class." Phineas hesitated and sighed sadly. She was right; there was no point in arguing. The kids all left the building, feeling ashamed. The mayor walked with them to the door.

"And I don't want you kids in here again!" Roger hollered when all the kids were outside. He slammed the door after him.

"I don't get it." Phineas said sadly. "I really thought we could change that man's heart; I thought we really sounded convincing." He sniffed, and rubbed away a tear from his eyes. Isabella consoled him.

"Phineas." She said. "We tried our very best, and we failed. We're going to have to accept facts; vacation will never come in a long time." Phineas stopped crying, and looked serious.

"No!" He sounded determined. "Just like we saved Christmas for Dansville, we can do this too. He wants to get rid of summer, then fine! But he's not taking away our vacations and break periods. He must be stopped." His eyes went towards Ferb. "Ferb, I know what we're going to do today! We're going to save vacations and break periods for everyone. Come, I have a plan." The friends all followed Phineas.

The animals landed. Pinky and Perry both put on their fedoras (Nobody hired Biff as an agent, because he's a goldfish. They all agreed that it'll be tough to have a goldfish as an agent, so they didn't even bother asking him. Just Pinky and Perry are agents.) Perry parked the car, locked it, and followed his animal friends inside.

When the animals got into Doof's apartment room, they saw the machine right away. They then saw Norm on a sofa, reading a magazine.

"Shhhhhh!" Perry whispered to his companions. The memotreme then tiptoed towards the machine, careful not to startle Norm.

The platypus was about to pull the lever, when something grabbed him. It was Norm! His friends gasped, as the Perry tried to get free.

"Where are you going Perry the Platypus?" The robot wanted to know. He noticed the lever. He turned back to the struggling mammal in his hands "Oh, you're trying to pull that lever aren't you? Well I'm sorry, but Doof told me it's off limits to you. He said that if you ever come and try to press the button, I'm supposed to stop you. So that's what I'm doing, I'm stopping you!"

The robot then noticed that Perry's friends. He tossed Perry aside, and plopped up in front of Pinky and Biff, startling them. Perry rubbed his head when he hit the floor.

"Oh you have friends!" The robot observed.
How interesting! It must be great having friends! What are their names?" Perry then looked serious, and stood in a fighting position. Don't you dare hurt them, or you'll be answering to me! He punched the air a few times. Norm got up.

"Such good friends you have." He said. "I'm sorry, but now I got to do this to you!" He pulled out a remote, and pushed a button. Cages fell on the dog on goldfish. Perry rolled on the floor, dodging, his.

Perry then ran towards the button on the machine, when Norm grabbed him again. Perry squirmed in his grasp.

"You're trapped Perry the Platypus!" Norm said. "Now what are you going to do?"

The platypus then hatched out a plan. He took off his hat, and threw it towards the machine. The hat hit the machine, turning it to 'off' Norm noticed this, as Perry's hat came back to him like a boomerang. He put it back on.

"Oops, Doof will be mad." He said, dropping Perry. Perry landed safely on the ground. "Which is why when he comes home, I should hug him!"

The machine rumbled. Perry quickly sawed his friends free with his switchblade on his hat. After the animals were free, they all got in Perry's hover car, and flew away as the laser went off.

"Come on kids!" Phineas told all of the kids at the school. They all had protests signs that they made by their selves. "This is all for your futures, and your children's' futures, and so on. School teached us, now we got to teach school. Come on everyone, we can do it if we all worked together. Fight what you believe in!"

"But." A little girl in the audience spoke up. "What if we can't do it? I mean, we'll only kids. It might not work, I mean, what if we fail?'

"I know we're just kids." Phineas told them. "But so what? That hasn't stopped past kids from fulfilling their dreams, and that won't stop us! Now we can still be heroes, if we just believe in ourselves and fight the power!"

The kids all agreed, and waved their protest signs.

"We want a break!" They all shouted at once. "We want a break, we want a break!" Then the laser hit.

Dr. D noticed the laser and screamed. He rushed out, and ran after his brother who was no longer hypnotized.

Doof and the mayor got on the stage, Phineas looked at them.

"Mayor please!" He begged. "We'll only doing what's right, please don't be mad!"

Roger spoke into the mike. The kids all quieted down and listened.

"Why are you kids' still in school?" he asked. "Its summer, you should all be down at the beach and stuff." Phineas looked puzzled.

"We're only doing what you told us." He told the mayor. "You said we have school 24/7, even on break periods and holidays."

"I most certainly did not!" Roger protested.

"Yes, you did."

"Well if I did, I'm sorry. I hereby decree school goes back to the way it was before!" All the kids cheered at once.

"Have a great summer!" The mayor said over the excited cheers.

"But...but...but…" Dr. D said, not believing this was happening. He then spoke into the mike.

"If you all want." He spoke. "You can all still go to school, and I'll teach you how to destroy all platypi." The kids were too busy cheering, that they didn't hear.

"Curses!" He cursed, leaving the stage. "Curse you Perry the Platypus!"

The animals got back (Perry and Pinky, pet form), and tried to find their owners through the all the kids.

Phineas started to sing.

"Hey kids, what's that sound? My, it's the start our summer vacation, our longest vacation from education! School's out, time to scream and shout!"

The highschoolers came running out of their school, al excited that school's out. Candace sighed in relief.

"No more waking at 6 A.M." she sang. "Because time is all my own." She looked dreamily at Jeremy. "And I'm not moving away. It's time again for some summer romance."

"Say it loud!" Phineas sang. "Say it proud! Its summertime, time to have the most fun of our lives! We're going to have fun without a doubt, because that what's summer's all about! It's a kid' fascination; it's our vacation from education!"

"I'm going to buy Jeremy presents at the store till' I drop!" Candace sang, going by her brothers. She rubbed their heads. "Because this summer long party never has to stop!"

"Until school next fall." Baljeet reminded her. Candace slapped her face, knowing he was right.

The animals and parents came in their cars. Kids ran excitedly to hug their relieved parents.

"Perry!" Phineas shouted. "Mom, dad!"

"Pinky!" Isabella cried out.

"Biff!" Buford blurted out. The parents and pets came to hug their kids and owners. Then the whole families held hands, and sang together.

"Summer's the place to be." They sang. "When I have my friends and family next to me.'

"It's fun to do things the way we did." The kids' sang. "Because we're kids' just being kids'! It's one big fascination." The kids sang the finale.

"BECAUSE IT'S OUR VACATION FROM EDUCATION!"

Phineas petted his pet.

"I'm so glad we're all together again." Phineas said. "And I hope it stays that way for a long time." Perry smiled. He hoped it's that way too. He was happy, he saved the day. He was the platypus that saved summer.

Phineas: Education is cool, and it's important to have in life. But remember, don't overdo it. Don't spend all you time studying. Family is important too. Take breaks every now and then. Invent stuff, play with your friends, spend time with your family, be active stay healthy, do something. But remember the most important thing…, HAVE FUN!

Have a wonderful summer!