"Phineas! Isabella!" a voice shouted from the surface. "You guys okay?"

Phineas hadn't even thought to check on Isabella. He quickly looked around and located her. She appeared to be slowly waking up, so he rolled her onto her back and sat her up. Meanwhile, Ferb and Gretchen had descended the ladder quickly and skillfully. They hurried over to where Phineas and Isabella were.

"What's going on here?" asked Gretchen impatiently.

Phineas was ready. "The machine rejected some of my commands. We were all supposed to exit immediately. However, it seems that it doesn't want us to exit the game and shut it off." He noticed Ferb was skeptical of his story. "This is the first thing I saw when I woke up." Phineas pointed at the com-screen.

Can't let you do that...

It wasn't enough for Ferb. "How could this have happened? It doesn't even make sense. What we need is some time to figure out exactly what is happening here."

From behind, Isabella jolted awake. She scanned the room, her heart racing. She was relieved to find her friends, minus 2, were beside her.

"Hey, what's going on? Why are we still here?" she asked innocently. Specifically addressing Phineas, she asked, "What happened?"

"I don't really know..." he mutely replied.

By the stairs, a figure spoke. A tall, hunched figure, to be precise. "Perhaps I could answer that question." He shook his head. "Though, it is a shame you kids had to get involved in all of this..."

Shock.

"It's him!"
"Not again..."
"Why now, of all times?"
"We're unarmed!"

"... but you don't seem to know what incredible acts of evil I could perform with such a powerful machine!"

"Acts of evil?" wondered Phineas, "What could he possibly use this for?" He wished that he had some knowledge that he could outsmart this man with, but he was sure that this man was behind all of their problems. He seemed to be able to manipulate the machine with skill and precision. Maybe he could be negotiated with.

"You are a foolish man. You have corrupted this machine and compromised its integrity. All of our lives are in danger."

The man threw back his head and laughed so devilishly that it made their skin crawl. "I think not. You see, I am the only one in complete control of this machine now." Then he added, "And my name is Dr. Doofenshmirtz."

The man snapped his fingers together. A countdown appeared on every monitor in the room. 200 seconds. The man snapped his fingers again. 199 seconds. 198, 197, 196. The countdown had started, but for what?

"In about 200 seconds this entire place will violently explode. Thanks to Mr. Phineas here, you will all be helplessly paralyzed," he said with a sly smile. He appeared to be enjoying himself immensely.

172 seconds.

Phineas tried to calm himself. Multiple things were at stake: HIs life, his friends' lives, and his reputation.

The man was speaking again, but Phineas tried to ignore him for a moment. It didn't work because he was spewing lies left and right.

"I say thanks to him because he has been my accomplice this whole time."

Phineas was dumbfounded. He couldn't even speak for a moment. "That's a lie!" spat Phineas and Isabella simultaneously.

157 seconds. When Phineas looked up at the countdown the truth hit him. He was being distracted.

Still, the doctor kept going. "He made all of you players and therefore, you will all be affected by the rules." Then he added with a smile, "My rules."

"Shut up already!" ordered Isabella. Then she turned to Phineas, all of the doctor's words apparently having bounced off of her. "What do we do? I know you having something in that brain of yours."

139 seconds left. There were two options. Get rid of Doofenshmirtz or escape through the emergency hatch. He would try option 1 first and then option 2 if necessary. They were unarmed, but not for long. In a nearby drawer there was a whole stash of Rock and a developer's table on top. The lock had already been busted off of the drawer. The doctor was already here. He whipped up a weapon and fired.

A laser burst travelled across the room. The doctor was not amused, but made no movement for cover. At last, the burst hit a barrier one foot in front of him and fizzled out.

110 seconds remained. A waste of time.

"Yawn. Just as I anticipated. Hey, I know! Why don't you guys try using the emergency exit? I hope it isn't full of traps!"

A straight revelation of their ace in the hole. Once again, Doofenshmirtz held all the cards. He was in complete control. They were trapped. More time had to be used for thinking.

87 seconds. Just over a minute.

Phineas consulted his friends. "Do we have any ideas? Anything? Please?" They all looked thoughtfully in the distance. The master planner, Ferb, had an idea.

"We could try and use the Rock in the drawer to create some sort of protective sphere around us. There is enough Rock to make the sphere withstand most blasts."

It was worth a shot. Ferb placed the Rock on the table and his hand on the scanner. He envisioned the creation he wished to see. He felt that something was wrong. There was no power.

"Awwww... Did the table go out on you?" mocked the doctor. "Oops, that might have been me."

42 seconds left. More time wasted. Frustration was building.

"Perhaps we should try and de-activate the booby-traps set in the escape hatch," suggested Gretchen. "What other options do we have?" she said with shrugged shoulders.

Everyone huddled close so that the doctor could not hear.

"I think that that is exactly what he wants us to do because..." but the sentence didn't go any further. It was interrupted by a loud whooping that came from the main hatch, near the doctor.

It was, of course, Buford. He slid down the ladder and landed on top of the doctor. Except that he didn't land on him, he landed in him. It was fake.

"A projection!" roared Phineas. "Of course! He had the projection there to try and goad us into trying the escape hatch. 28 seconds. "Hurry Buford! There is an invisible wall in front of you! See if you can break it down for us!"

Without word or any sign that he had heard them, Buford tightened his core, lowered his shoulder, and charged with as much power as he could muster. His first collision was unsuccessful. The energy was absorbed by the force field and Buford was sent back on his rear.

"Try spreading out yourself as you make contact. The spread out energy might overload its circuits."

Buford tried again, his eyes glazed with determination. This time he was successful. The wall shattered into colored shards that made clinking sounds as residual sparks flickered out.

16 seconds. They all made a break for it. The ladies went first, followed by Ferb, Buford, and Phineas who had just scooped their pockets full of Rock. It was a race to the surface. Baljeet's head was poking out over the top of the ladder and open hatch. The first made it up with 6 seconds remaining. One by one they made it out and scrambled away.

Then time was up. The structure exploded dramatically, fire rising up 20 feet over the structure. Blocks of stone turned into unmanned missiles as they flew apart. The ground shook with might and the noise was brutal on their eardrums. All in all, it was quite a show.

They regrouped together, bracing for the worst. It seemed that the machine wasn't controlling itself, there was actually someone doing the controlling.

Everyone was accounted for, except one: Phineas. He had not made it out in time. What they all just witnessed, Phineas had experienced and was now buried under mounds of rubble, utterly paralyzed.

Several spines shivered from the horror they just witnessed.

Thanks a lot for reading everyone! Review if you please, I always appreciate it.

Oh, and I have a new story I am starting very soon so look for that as well. Its going to be really cool.