Freeze Frame, Volume 7

by Disney Book Group

  Phineas and Ferb shrugged. It wasn’t at all unusual for their pet platypus, Perry, to disappear for hours at a time. They always figured that he was sleeping in some dark, cozy place, like under the bed.

  But they couldn’t have been more wrong! In reality, Perry the Platypus was actually a secret agent, whose code name was Agent P. It was Agent P’s mission in life to track down the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz and put a stop to his terrible plots.

  At Perry’s agency headquarters, Major Monogram and his dedicated assistant, Carl Karl, collected data about Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s latest evil schemes. And whenever Major Monogram had enough information about a particular plot, he summoned Agent P to put an immediate stop to it.

  At that very moment, Agent P was about to escape through a hollow opening in a tree to get to his headquarters. As he zoomed through a series of underground pipes, he suddenly fell out of one of them and landed in a cold, wet puddle on the ground!

  “Oh, sorry about that, Agent P!” Carl exclaimed as he dropped his wrench. He had removed a leaky section of one of the underground pipes to repair it—which put a serious kink in Agent P’s quick approach to his headquarters!

  In one fast motion, Carl picked up Agent P and tossed him back in the pipe. Whoosh! The platypus zoomed off once again.

  When Agent P finally arrived, Major Monogram was waiting for him. The platypus climbed into a bright orange captain’s chair, right in front of the enormous flat-screen video monitor that broadcasted an image of his superior officer.

  “Good morning, Agent P,” Major Monogram said. “We’ve tracked Dr. Doofenshmirtz to an old abandoned warehouse, and he’s made some suspicious purchases: ten thousand packets of powdered hot chocolate, a hot dog vendor’s cart, a medium-size parka, and a pair of red flannel long johns.”

  Agent P raised his eyebrows. That list of items sounded extremely suspicious—especially since it involved Dr. Doofenshmirtz.

  “Don’t ask us how we know,” continued Major Monogram. “Get out there and kick some Doofen-butt!”

  Agent P didn’t need to hear another word. He blasted his grappler gun and held on tight. The iron claw and steel cable would zip him out of the headquarters in no time.

  And it was probably safer than trying to travel through the pipes again—at least until Carl had finished the repairs!

  Chapter 2

  Back at home, Phineas and Ferb were building a steel frame in the shape of a sphere for their enormous bowling ball. They covered it with curved metal panels. Then the fun really started as they developed a high-tech control panel to be placed inside the ball. Finally, they installed a pilot’s chair with the very latest in safety devices and a flat-screen monitor so that anyone piloting the bowling ball could see what was happening outside of it.

  After all, what was the point of building the world’s biggest bowling ball if you couldn’t ride around in it?

  Baljeet was amazed at the giant ball sitting in Phineas and Ferb’s backyard. He was so impressed that he hardly noticed Phineas and Ferb leaning against it, fast asleep.

  “Wow! That is one big bowling ball!” Baljeet exclaimed.

  Baljeet’s voice woke the stepbrothers. “Hey, look at that, Ferb,” Phineas said. “Told you we could do it in our sleep.”

  Upstairs in her bedroom, Candace was back on the phone, chatting with Stacy. “So, what do you think I should wear to the fair tonight?” Candace asked. “I’m thinking my favorite red blouse with my white skirt and matching red socks.”

  Suddenly, Candace was interrupted by a tremendously loud noise that shook the entire house. Her eyes narrowed. There was only one explanation for that kind of sound.

  Phineas and Ferb were up to something!

  “Stacy, I’m going to have to call you back,” Candace told her friend. Then she raced down the stairs.

  Outside, the huge bowling ball was rolling straight toward a giant set of pins!

  Crash!

  As the ball smashed into the pins, every one of them toppled over! A crowd of kids that had gathered in the backyard clapped and cheered.

  “That was amazing!” Phineas exclaimed as he climbed out of the bowling ball. He smiled at his friends.

  “Wow, Phineas!” cried his friend Isabella Garcia-Shapiro. “Another strike!”

  “That makes four in a row,” Phineas said proudly. “In your face, Buford!”

  “Ha, ha!” Baljeet laughed. “Yes! What he said! Ha, ha, ha!”

  But when Buford stood over Baljeet and gave him a mean stare, the laughter stopped.

  “Uh . . . I mean, you will get him next time, clearly,” Baljeet said nervously.

  “Ferb, did you get that strike?” Phineas asked.

  Ferb, who was wearing a sun visor and a bowling shirt, nodded. He knew that keeping score was not a job to be taken lightly. He pressed a button and a machine put the pins back in formation.

  “Who’s next?” Phineas asked his friends as he glanced around the yard. But before anyone could volunteer, Candace marched up to them.

  “Phineas, just what do you think you’re doing out here?” she yelled.

  “Candace, you’re just in time,” replied Phineas. “It’s your turn!”

  Candace glared at Phineas and grabbed her cell phone. “Just wait until Mom hears about . . .” she began.

  Then Candace paused. An idea had just occurred to her. “But then again, you guys always seem to make everything disappear before Mom gets home. But if I take the evidence to her at the Bowl-R-Ama, then she’ll have to believe me!”

  Candace could see it now: her mom rushing over to her, saying, “Oh, Candace! You were right about Phineas and Ferb this whole time! We should have believed you!”

  Her dad would chime in, waving a credit card in the air. “And to express how sorry we are, here’s my credit card. You have our permission to ruin us financially!”

  Just when it seemed Candace’s daydream couldn’t get any better, Jeremy appeared in it! And he was holding a velvet jewelry box! “Candace, that is so cool how you busted your brothers,” he said. “Will you marry me?”

  “So, you want to give it a try?” Phineas asked Candace.

  “I do, Jeremy,” Candace said happily as she stared into space. Then she shook herself out of her daydream. There was only one way to make her fantasy a reality: take the giant bowling ball to the Bowl-R-Ama to prove to her parents that what she said about her brothers was true! “I mean, uh . . . I’d love to give it a try,” she told her brother.

  “All right!” Phineas cheered. He opened the door to the bowling ball, and he and Candace climbed inside. “I’ll show you how it works. Well, first of all, the cockpit’s on a gyroscope so it stays level. Here’s your monitor, and this is the trackball you use to steer,” he explained. “Now, no matter what, never hit the gyrostabilizer lock button. It’ll disable the gyroscope, and you’ll spin around.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Candace said impatiently. “Use the trackball, don’t hit the button. I got it.”

  “All right, you seem to know what you’re doing,” Phineas replied as he climbed out of the bowling ball.

  “Do I ever!” Candace cackled gleefully. She buckled her safety belt. “This is a piece of cake. Bowl-R-Ama, here I come!”

  “Okay, Candace, try to take it slow at first,” Phineas warned her from outside.

  But Candace had no intention of taking it slow. She giggled hysterically as she started to wildly spin the trackball. All of a sudden, the bowling ball shot off, knocking down all the pins at top speed!

  “Way to go, Candace!” yelled Phineas.

  But the bowling ball didn’t stop there. It zoomed through the yard, smashing into the scoring table. Then it crushed the fence and rolled right into the street!

  “Where’s she going?” Phineas gasped.

  All the kids raced into the front yard and stared after the speeding bowling ball. Suddenly, Phineas grinned. “She’s free-styling!” he exclaimed. “We’ve got to follow her and see what she does. Let’s g
o, team!”

  Phineas, Ferb, Isabella, Baljeet, and Buford split up and raced back to their own houses. Each one collected his or her own means of transportation: Phineas hopped on his red scooter; Ferb jumped on his yellow-and-black mountain bike; Isabella laced up her white-and-pink roller skates; Baljeet climbed on his unicycle; and Buford grabbed his skateboard.

  In moments, they met up again in front of Phineas and Ferb’s house. Then they raced after the bowling ball.

  Wherever Candace was going, they were ready to follow!

  Chapter 3

  Across town, Agent P held on tightly to a long cable as he swung through a window into a run-down, old building. But this wasn’t just any building—it was Doofenshmirtz Abandoned Self-Storage, where the evil doctor’s latest plot was being planned!

  Agent P landed on the floor and glanced around. The room was covered in frost and icicles. It was bitterly cold inside. But before the platypus could figure out what was going on, an enormous mechanical penguin waddled up to him—and blasted him with an ice ray. Now Perry was trapped in a block of ice!

  There was no doubt in Agent P’s mind that Dr. Doofenshmirtz was behind the ice-blasting penguin, so he wasn’t a bit surprised when the evil doctor appeared in a purple parka with a fur-trimmed hood.

  “Ah, Perry the Platypus, right on time!” Dr. Doofenshmirtz laughed from an elevated platform. “It seems like you got quite a chill there!”

  Agent P wished he could have rolled his eyes at Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s lame joke. But he couldn’t move a muscle.

  “I want you to meet my latest creation,” the doctor continued. “The Giant-Robotic-Penguin-Icy-Freeze-Your-Socks-Off-Breath-inator . . . thingy. First, I will unleash my giant penguins at the fair today so they may begin freezing the entire city. Then, I will sell all the citizens of Danville my organic, yet highly addictive Doof Brand hot chocolate.”

  Dr. Doofenshmirtz paused as he imagined the ice-covered streets of Danville crowded with shivering people. And in the middle of them all, a hot-chocolate cart next to a giant steaming mug filled with his supersecret hot chocolate! “Because, you know, who doesn’t enjoy a nice cup of hot chocolate when it’s so cold out?” Dr. Doofenshmirtz asked. “The first cup will be free, of course. But then the second will also be free . . . but then the third will cost a million dollars! That way, I only have to sell three and I will already be a millionaire!”

  Perry could do nothing but watch helplessly as Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s army of robotic penguins paraded through the room and headed outside.

  Agent P was so solidly frozen into the block of ice that he couldn’t even shiver, let alone chase after the evil doctor. But that wasn’t about to stop him from saving the day.

  After all, the citizens of Danville—and the entire tri-state area—were counting on him!

  Meanwhile, Phineas, Ferb, and their friends continued to follow the bowling ball that Candace was piloting. Suddenly, Phineas realized where Candace was going. “She’s headed for the Bowl-R-Ama!” he exclaimed.

  Just then, Mrs. Flynn glanced at her phone. “You know, dear, Candace hasn’t called,” she said to her husband.

  “Oh, don’t worry,” he replied. “I’m sure the kids are having a ball.”

  At that very moment, the enormous bowling ball zoomed right past Phineas and Ferb’s parents toward the Bowl-R-Ama entrance! But just as it was ready to plow through the building’s doors, a van that was about to park in front of the bowling alley knocked the ball off-course. The ball rolled down a hill, gaining speed every second!

  “Ooh, that’s gotta hurt,” Phineas commented when the car hit the ball.

  “Oh, no!” shrieked Candace from inside the bowling ball. She tried to steer the trackball but it popped out of position and bounced around. Now the bowling ball was speeding out of control!

  The ball raced past a construction site, then dropped into a pit and rolled through a large pipe. Phineas rode up to a group of construction workers, with his friends right behind him. “So, where does this lead?” he asked the crew.

  One of the construction workers grunted. “Heck if I know!”

  “Ferb, the map of Danville’s underground,” Phineas requested.

  Ferb handed him a set of rolled-up blueprints. Phineas opened them to reveal a diagram of a series of connected tubes—a map of all the pipes and tunnels that lay hidden beneath the streets of Danville.

  “Looks like she’s headed downtown!” Phineas announced. Then he took off after the bowling ball, with everyone else following along behind him.

  Meanwhile, inside the ball, Candace was panicking. “Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop!” she screamed as the ball tumbled over and over. Suddenly, it shot into a long tunnel and landed on some tracks, slowing down before it came to a complete halt.

  “Oh, good,” Candace said, sighing. “It stopped.”

  Then she peeked at the monitor, and a look of horror crossed her face.

  The bowling ball had stopped on the subway tracks.

  And a train was headed her way!

  “Wait!” she shrieked. “Go, go, go, go, go!”

  But it was too late! The train knocked into the bowling ball and sent it rolling down the tunnel. Then another train knocked it in a different direction. Then yet another train sent the bowling ball zooming along as if it were part of a giant game of pinball! It passed by a platform where two men were waiting for the subway.

  “That’s one big bowling ball, Bob,” one of the men remarked.

  “You betcha, Barry,” his friend agreed.

  Phineas, Ferb, and their friends arrived on the platform just in time to see the bowling ball speed down the tracks.

  “Here she comes,” Phineas called.

  “Go, Candace!” yelled Baljeet and Buford.

  “And there she goes,” Buford added as the ball zipped away.

  “All right, guys. To Seventh Street!” Phineas commanded. “Go, Candace!”

  All the kids cheered as they sped off after the bowling ball. This was one wild ride that they didn’t want to miss!

  Chapter 4

  Phineas, Ferb, Baljeet, Isabella, and Buford raced out of the subway station just in time to see the giant bowling ball—with Candace still inside it—blast out of the tunnel and onto the sidewalk.

  “Go, Candace!” the kids screamed.

  The bowling ball crashed into a courtyard, bouncing back and forth against several newsstands. The metal stands made a ping-ping-ping noise whenever the ball hit them.

  That gave Phineas a great idea. “Hey, Baljeet!” he called. “What’s the world record for the largest pinball machine?”

  “I’m not sure,” replied Baljeet as he flipped through his book of world records. “But I know we can beat it!”

  “Okay, everybody,” Phineas said. “Split up, and let’s keep the ball in play until we get to the fair!”

  With a little bit of luck, Phineas knew that they could turn the entire city of Danville into one enormous pinball game! The kids rode off, forming an arc to surround the bowling ball so that they could follow it wherever it went. The ball sped down the street as Phineas and Ferb tailed it.

  Inside the bowling ball, Candace held on to her chair as tightly as she could. She was very grateful that Phineas and Ferb had installed such strong safety belts! Unfortunately the trackball was useless. As it bounced around inside the bowling ball, it suddenly slammed into the gyrostabilizer button—the one button that Phineas had warned Candace not to touch!

  A loud alarm blared through the bowling ball. Candace’s steady and sturdy chair was no longer locked in place. Now she, too, was being bounced around inside the bowling ball!

  “Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! I’m out of control!” Candace shrieked as she tumbled over and over.

  The speeding bowling ball rolled along a curved wall and bounced off an open door. Then it zipped by a row of turnstiles, hitting each one with a loud noise before it bounced over them and rolled away.

  Next, the ball sped past the golden stat
ues of athletes in front of the Danville Arena. Ping! It bounced off a golden hockey stick. Pang! It knocked against the soccer player statue’s golden foot. Then it barreled through a row of parked cars, right toward the Super Food Stuff Mart—and all of the unsuspecting shoppers inside!

  Baljeet knew just what to do. He raced ahead of the rolling ball and got into position just beyond the store’s automatic doors. When the bowling ball approached, Baljeet leaped in front of the doors. Whoosh! The doors swung open, knocking the bowling ball away from the store!

  Phineas sped up on his scooter. He had a feeling the ball was now heading toward the movie theater. Phineas got there right before the bowling ball did. He leaped off his scooter and kicked open the doors—just in time for the ball to zip through them! All the lights on the movie theater’s marquee lit up and started flashing. It looked like Phineas had hit the giant pinball jackpot!

  “Woo-hoo!” he cheered.

  Then the ball sped back out of the theater and rolled away at top speed, right toward the city bridge. If it crossed the bridge out of Danville, it would be in another town—and a lot harder for the kids to control! Uh-oh. What were they going to do now?

  Chapter 5

  Luckily, Ferb was on top of the problem. He raced into the bridge’s control tower. Before the bridge operator could react, Ferb pressed a button that opened the bridge so that tall boats could sail through. The bridge popped open—knocking the bowling ball back into Danville!

  As the bowling ball continued to pick up speed, everyone had to work even harder to keep it from causing a catastrophe of enormous proportions! But they were up to the challenge. Isabella moved an elderly lady safely out of the way as the ball zipped into a shopping mall. The ball raced up and down escalators and along the sleek walkways of the mall as shoppers watched in amazement. It bounced off fountains and vendor carts and information booths.